JERMAINE DEFOE BACK TO RELEVANCY

Adam Zdroik, Staff WriterNovember 26, 2012

We don’t have much time, so make sure you set your rosters now. Yes, now. There is just one day between matches in the Premier League from Gameweek 13 to 14. Going further, there are only two days between Gameweeks 14 and 15 at the end of the week. That means tired legs, which makes rosters harder to predict and paying attention to press conferences even more important.

Before I get into the rankings, it’s also good to review who’s been doing what.

As expected, the highest scoring match of the weekend was Sunderland vs. West Brom. No, just kidding. No one expected that. To make matters worse, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City were all shut out. If you didn’t have a very good week, you’re not alone. Manchester United scored three goals, yet, the most popular player in Fantasy soccer was not involved in any of the goals (Robin van Persie).

Seriously, don’t worry about it, move on. Who was the leading Fantasy scorer of the weekend? Wigan midfielder, Jordi Gomez, who notched a hat trick. They were his first goals of the campaign, in his first start in more than two months. He’s on 0.4 percent of squads at the premierleague.com game. Next up in scoring was Stephane Sessegnon who scored and assisted. He’s had a very slow start to the season, but looks like he’s coming around. The next best midfielders came from Southampton, Gaston Ramirez and Adam Lallana. These guys are not widely owned.

One player that has been impressive this year and had another brace is Jermaine Defoe. He led all forwards in scoring with two goals. He already has seven goals and four assists after totaling 11 goals and two assists all of last season.

The West Brom strikers continue to wreak havoc on opponents. Romelu Lukaku, Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie and even Marc-Antoine Fortune, scored or assisted at Sunderland. The Baggies are playing out of their minds at the moment, sitting in third place on the table.

Defoe was given another chance and he’s taking it. Photo Credit: James Boyes

On the defensive side of things, Swansea netminder Gerhard Tremmel recorded his first ever Premier League clean sheet. He started his fourth straight match in place of the injured Michel Vorm. A Norwich defender was once again at the top of the rankings. They didn’t get a clean sheet, but Sebastien Bassong still saved a point for the Canaries at Everton with a nice header. Norwich has only allowed two goals in their last six games. That’s what you call value.

Enough of review, you only have so much time to set your lineups (probably less than a day).

WEEKLY RANKINGS

Goalkeepers

Mark Schwarzer, Sunderland, 5.1m, vs. QPR

Asmir Begovic, Stoke City, 5.1m, vs. Newcastle

Anders Lindegaard, Manchester United, 5.4m, vs. West Ham

Joe Hart, Man City, 6.9m, at Wigan

Tim Howard, Everton, 5.6m, vs. Arsenal

Defenders

Patrice Evra, Man United, 6.8m, vs. West Ham

Carlos Cuellar, Sunderland, 4.5m, vs. QPR

Rafael, Man United, 6.5m, vs. West Ham

Leighton Baines, Everton, 7.6m, vs. Arsenal

Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City, 5.3m, vs. Newcastle

Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea, 7.2m, vs. Fulham

Jose Enrique, Liverpool, 5.8m, at Tottenham

Jose Fonte, Southampton, 4.1m, vs. Norwich

Matthew Lawton, Aston Villa, 4.5m, vs. Reading

Kaspars Gorkss, Reading, 4.0m, at Aston Villa

Midfielders

Juan Mata, Chelsea, 9.6m, vs. Fulham

Eden Hazard, Chelsea, 10.1m, vs. Fulham

David Silva, Man City, 9.4m, at Wigan

Gareth Bale, Tottenham, 9.7m, vs. Liverpool

Santi Cazorla, Arsenal, 9.5m, at Everton

Pablo Hernandez, Swansea, 6.1m, vs. West Brom

Kevin Nolan, West Ham, 6.9m, at Man United

Charlie Adam, Stoke City, 6.6m, vs. Newcastle

Marouane Fellaini, Everton, 7.6m, vs. Arsenal

Stephane Sessegnon, Sunderland, 7.3m, vs. QPR

Forwards

Robin van Persie, Man United, 13.7m, vs. West Ham

Luis Suarez, Liverpool, 10.4m, at Tottenham

Carlos Tevez, Man City, 9.4m, at Wigan

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 11.7m, vs. West Ham

Rickie Lambert, Southampton, 6.0m, vs. Newcastle

Demba Ba, Newcastle, 8.3m, at Stoke City

Sergio Aguero, Man City, 11.0m, at Wigan

Olivier Giroud, Arsenal, 8.4m, at Everton

Jermaine Defoe, Tottenham, 7.8m, vs. Liverpool

Peter Crouch, Stoke City, 6.8m, vs. Newcastle

YOU’RE THE CAPTAIN

Robin van Persie, Man United

Luis Suarez, Liverpool

Juan Mata/Eden Hazard, Chelsea

Carlos Tevez, Man City

Wayne Rooney, Man United

With zero goals in two straight matches, is it time to shy away from RVP? Heck no. West Ham is getting two days rest after a Tottenham beat down. United will get a few goals in this one.

Suarez was shut out last match, but so was his opponent. That probably won’t happen again. If Spurs don’t score, they will give up goals.

Fulham’s defense has disappeared lately and Chelsea will capitalize, even though they are struggling. Mata gets the edge over Hazard if you have both of them.

Wigan is a feisty team, but Tevez is a feistier player. City won’t get shutout in two straight league matches.

United will score, there’s no doubt about it. They are using a ton of forwards, but it’s a good sign that both RVP and Rooney still played 90 minutes last weekend.

Adam joined RotoExperts in 2008 as a member of the Scout/Player Updates Team. Throughout the years, Adam has written articles encompassing a number of sports. If you like your Fantasy advice full of numbers and straight to the point, look no further. Find him (@RotoZdroik) on Twitter, to get a daily take of what’s happening in the sports world.